Do you ever find that when you try to do anything productive in your house, you always just end up reading arbitrary Wikipedia pages and back-articles from Pitchfork? Does the combination of rumbling roommates, a cat that's always doing something weird and having all of your personal belongings in one spot make accomplishing things a grotesque ordeal? Do you ever just need to get the fuck out of your pad? Well, if you live in a shit-hole in North York, this would definitely ring true. Living downtown, on the other hand, is a whole new bushel of apples, with all kinds of shit to do and places to work or hang. Every month, the Steel Bananas folk venture out into the city to check out what Toronto has to offer to present you with a couple of sweet spots with fierce lattes and good vibes. Cafes are fucking wicked.
Zoots Cafe
1438 Dundas Street West
Zoots is a cool spot, to be sure; a small, twenty-seater café just outside of Portugal Village - they make easy work of achieving the clear goal of being a quaint and quiet neighborhood coffee shop. Cool antique furniture and décor adorn the place and I’ve never seen it overly busy, so it is a great place to get work done (see: free wifi – eat it, Starbucks) as the atmosphere is fantastically conducive to pounding out some freaky shit on your laptop. And if you get a little bit weary of work, why not take a break and play a board game? Zoots has got a big shelf of books and games that you might pass the time with on a rainy or otherwise day, which even if you have no interest in perusing extensively, is still pretty cool to look at and adds a lot to the joint’s homey-factor.
As for the coffee, Zoots makes a fierce latte, nothing out of this world in terms of being overly bold, but definitely worth the trip - and at $3.25, it’s about standard in that respect. They’ve also got a fairly large selection of tea, so when you ask for a green, they’ll usually ring off an extensive list of green teas to which I often find myself responding with an indifferent “Whatever. Sure.” The munchables are pretty champ too – I had this totally badass cookie there that was something like chocolate-chip-toffee-dried-cherry or what have you; anyway, it was a rad fucking cookie and they’ve got pretty kickin’ bagels as well.
Zoots Café has in the few weeks since I’ve first checked it out jumped pretty high up in my pantheon of sweet coffee spots in Toronto. My one gripe about it is fairly inconsequential, being that I personally don’t really have much reason to go out to that area too often and thus I consider it somewhat out of the way. However, the fact that I really dig the place is reason enough to make a special trip. Rockinjazztastic(asaurus) coffee, snacks and ambience as well as really nice people make Zoots one of my new favorite procrastination hangouts.
Jet Fuel Coffee Shop
519 Parliament Street
Nestled in Cabbagetown, just north of Carlton on Parliament, Jet Fuel Coffee Shop is a pillar of the neighbourhood, attracting mid-twenties hipsters, art types, families, and even, occasionally Michael Ondaatje. It's small (but recently extended) dual-leveled space, painted a warm red with an ever changing showcase of Toronto Visual Artists and photographers adorning the walls, is simple and modern; well designed to house the multitude of people who come trampling through each day. With tasteful tunes blaring incessantly, it's not always the best place to work, but with free Wifi and kickin' lattes, it's defintely a great place to hang.
The coffee itself is subdued, not overly assertive or bold, with an undeniable sweetness that demands no sugar. They totally nail the foam, too, showcasing their steamed-milk prowess with lattes in tall pint-glasses. Though they only have muffins for the first hour they're open, the coffee and laid back atmosphere is wicked enough to keep people coming in to work, read or hang.
Though the service is constantly criticized for being rude or full of attitude, I've found that the baristas at Jet Fuel are pretty nice. They're totally not the "Hey honey, how was your day" kind of crowd, but when you're totally burnt out, have miles to go before sleep, and just want to work in a space with free wifi and killer lattes, their relative anonymity is greatly appreciated. Jet Fuel is definitely a cool urban spot to sit on your laptop and do some work, or to read a book and admire Michael Ondaatje from afar.
